Tiger Barb with Popeye

[jrw1660]

I need some advice on how to treat my Tiger Barb with Popeye. I've had him well over a year, he is eating, behaving normal, but his left eye is swollen.

All other fish (mix of small tetras, a few guarami, three angelfish, two tiger barbs) are doing fine. (Except for one odd tetra that has been swimming vertical for several months, but otherwise healthy and active)

The water is fine, had it tested several times at pet store, so I don't know exact results. It is a 55 gallon tank, I do a 30-50% water change each week.

I have been treating with frozen bloodworms mixed with Metro+ health aid for 4 days. I have also turned up the temperature to 84 F and have kept the lights off. I also added a little extra aquarium salt.

I don't think his eye has really reduced in size. I can't tell if he's in danger of the eye popping or if he's dying, since he's acting normal. Am I using the right medication?

[librarygirl]

I could be wrong, but I looked up Metro+ and it says it treats hole in the head disease, doesn't say anything about pop eye. You might want to try an antibiotic instead and QT the fish while you treat it. Let someone else with more experience chime in though, at least my reply will bump this up and hopefully someone else will see it. Sorry about your fish

[jrw1660]

Thanks for the reply. I just happened to have Metro on hand. It's just weird that he's still acting normal. Maybe it was an injury and it will just go down. I'll try to pick up something at the store.

[Homedog98]

Since it's only one eye. It sounds like it was caused by an injury. Look around the tank for anything with sharp edges. You'll also need to separate the fish. A QT or hospital tank would be ideal, but a bucket you can float in the tank can work as well. Just use some main tank gravel, water, and squeeze some filter goo into the QT tank. Then you can transfer without acclimation. For treatment, Maracyn and aquarium salt are much better. I also suggest purchasing your own test kit, such as the API master kit, and test your own water if it spreads to both eyes, you'll need to stop the other two, and start treating with pimafix.

[WendiDell]

When it's one eye it's usually from an injury. I have a couple of my fish get Popeye that way. And they survived it just fine without meds., Out of the three that had Popeye only one required meds.
They do need to be isolated. Then instead of adding Aquarium salt, you need to add Epsom's Salt (it's not really salt it's magnesium) so you don't need to worry about to much salt.
Make sure you do a 50-75% PWC then add 3-4 Tablespoons of the Epsom's Salt for every 10 gallons of water. Then do 50% PWC every day for 3 days replacing the Epsom's Salt each time.
The ES will reduce the swelling of the eye there by preventing further damage from the pressure. When the Popeye is from an injury, reducing the swelling will allow the eye to heal on it own.
If there is no improvement after the three days, then continue the ES and PWC but add an antibiotic specifically for Popeye.
Once again Maracyn makes a great paper weight. Seachem makes a great med for Popeye called Kanaplex. It's easy to use and won't affect any of your good bacteria, nor will it change colors. it's great stuff.
I have African cichlids and they do fight on occasion. I won't use anything but Seachem meds. their great.
Good luck, and whether it's from an injury or from a bacterial infection, in order for it to heal and prevent further damage you must reduce the swelling of the eye/eyes!

[jrw1660]

Thanks for all of the help. I did a 50% water change and add the epsom's salt. I don't have a hospital tank and he really freaked out when I put him into a breeding tank. since the other fish don't seem to bother with him and he's still eating and acting normal, I just released him into the tank. Hopefully this will help the little guy. Thanks again!

It sounds like maybe I should be a broad health aid and maybe Metro+ is not right. Any suggestions on a good overall medication/healthaid to have on hand?

[Homedog98]

Originally Posted by jrw1660

Thanks for all of the help. I did a 50% water change and add the epsom's salt. I don't have a hospital tank and he really freaked out when I put him into a breeding tank. since the other fish don't seem to bother with him and he's still eating and acting normal, I just released him into the tank. Hopefully this will help the little guy. Thanks again!

It sounds like maybe I should be a broad health aid and maybe Metro+ is not right. Any suggestions on a good overall medication/healthaid to have on hand?

Melafix, pimafix, and aquarium salt. They can practically cure all ills lol.

[WendiDell]

Originally Posted by jrw1660

Thanks for all of the help. I did a 50% water change and add the Epsom's salt. I don't have a hospital tank and he really freaked out when I put him into a breeding tank. since the other fish don't seem to bother with him and he's still eating and acting normal, I just released him into the tank. Hopefully this will help the little guy. Thanks again!

It sounds like maybe I should be a broad health aid and maybe Metro+ is not right. Any suggestions on a good overall medication/health aid to have on hand?

I always have a bottle of Seachem's Polyguard around. Some people don't like it because it can (not always) stain some of your decor. But I'm more worried about my fish than the decorations. If you don't want to risk something turning blue, just take it out until your finished with the treatments.

What I like about Polyguard is that it treats most prevalent Bacterial, Fungal and Parasitic infections, so you don't have to be a great diagnostician. It's not always easy to figure out what's ailing our fish. And sometimes they'll start out with a parasite and end up with a secondary bacterial infection, so you need to treat both conditions at the same time.
I'm not a chemist, I don't want to be mixing a little of this med. and a little more of that one and a pinch of another. I want one medicine that treats all of it at the same time.

There are also 2 other meds. by Seachem I like to have on hand. One is Kanaplex, it's great for bacterial Popeye. The other is Paraguard it covers almost everything too, but it's great for Fin Rot.

In my fishes medicine cabinet, I have: Seachem's, Polyguard, Paraguard, & Kanaplex. I also have Jungles HITH Guard. HITH is Hole in the head, it's a parasite that is common to cichlids. I also have API Aquarium Salt & Epsom's Salt, which is actually Magnesium so it doesn't hurt to use them together. `